3 broadband contract

catyb20 · 30-09-2009 10:08pm #1

Hey,

I am just after getting off the phone to 3 broadband 'customer service'. my contract is due to finish today so i was ringing to canel it, due to it being very poor where I live and so being pointless having it.

Anyway, rang up to find that my contract apparently isnt due to end until september 2010!!!!!

I never contacted them to upgrade so how exactly was it upgraded!

Well after explaining to the 'customer service' rep that i didnt authorise a renewal in the contract he told me I did! He said that they rang me to months ago and I signed up for it!

Now to be fair I did receive a call on my 3 mobile (which in some areas has equally bad reception ) and couldnt hear what was being said exactly. What I did hear was that I was getting 2 months free broadband to which i agreed, I thought this was due to the bad service on the broadband....but apparently this was for renewing the contract. the two months free I havent received nor did i receive the one month free at the very start of my contract!

I am absolutely fuming mad over this. I know that to a degree this is my fault, I should have arranged a call back at another time when I actually had reception, but surely a letter stating the contract was renewed should have been sent out?!

Has anybody gone through anything similar or does anyone have any advice on this...I am expecting a call back tomorrow from them so any help would be appreciated

foggy_lad · 30-09-2009 10:28pm

report this to ComReg and write a formal complaint to three about how they have handled your account and the way they upgraded you without your consent/knowledge.

at the time did they explain about you having ten days to back out of this new contract under distance selling rules? if they did not do this the new contract is void. also if you were unable to hear them properly this should be clear on any recording they have of the call!

catyb20 · 30-09-2009 10:34pm

foggy_lad wrote: »

report this to ComReg and write a formal complaint to three about how they have handled your account and the way they upgraded you without your consent/knowledge.

at the time did they explain about you having ten days to back out of this new contract under distance selling rules? if they did not do this the new contract is void. also if you were unable to hear them properly this should be clear on any recording they have of the call!

I honestly don't know if they said it about the 10 days. i heard the girl saying she was calling from 3 broadband, then about having 2 months free, but i was in and out of reception so can't say if they did or did not tell me about the 10 days.

I've had a mobile contract with them the last 3 years and each time i renewed i was sent an email....i presumed this would have also applied to the broadband but obviously not. also on the call I dont remember them getting me to verify my info with them like add/dob etc which they do when making a call.

So annoyed over all of this.

Good thinking on the recorded call I didnt think of that, but if worst comes to worst I knw for a fact that will prove my point.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated

catyb20 · 02-10-2009 9:56am

just an update on this, incase anyone else ever goes throught the same!

After being told 2 days ago that I would receive a call back yesterday, I had to get in contact with 3 myself today. Typically enough I got no call back, though i guarantee you if i was at fault over soomething, they'd be straight on the phone!.

Had a quick look at their code of practice, and you really do have to laugh! they boast at how great their customer service is etc....how is it great when they cant make a simple phone call back which they promised?? And when you finally get talking to the person you are supposed to talk to, you are pretty much told you are wrong!!

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Anyway got through to the cancellations dept, to be told 'it appears your contract was extended' welll you don't say!!!
I explained that i received a call a couple of months ago, which was verified and that my mobile reception was awful so didnt know what i was being told and thought it was a customer service call. the person on the phone said 'well you signed up on that day for an extention to the contract' I told him i didnt, that I couldnt hear what was being said on the phone and then told him to organise for someoone to listen to the recorded call which would definitely confim what I've been saying.

In fairness, 3 mobile doesnt have the best reception here (im in donegal) but on the day they called, i was in dunfanaghy - reception was pretty much non existant!

So the rep said that it would be looked into and i should know in 72 hours or tuesday as i was told after confirming when i could expect a call back.

What is so funny is when you rad the code of practice they state 'prompt response to complaints' and they cannot call you back when they said they would!

Son pending tuesday supposed call - if all is not sorted then i will to go the manager and write a formal complaint and if nothing comes back from that by the end of next week I will be going to comreg as suggested above!

Sponge Bob · 02-10-2009 11:59am

This is all pointless.

1. If you agree a verbal contract they MUST have a recording , you agreed nothing so there is no contract or recording proving a contract .

2. As there is no contract you are no longer a customer after the notice period.

3. As the notice is 28 day usually ( or a month) and as a complaint should be resolved in 10 days you simply email the following .

to customer.services.ie@3mail.com and cc INFO@COMREG.IE

Subject . Formal Complaint Material Breach of Contract 3 Ireland

Complaints Procedure Invoked Per 3 Ireland Code Of Conduct

http://www.three.ie/pdf/3%20Code%20of%20Practice.pdf

On the 1st of October and after termination of my contract period I rang three and gave due notice of termination of contract .

A 3 Ireland staff member informed me that 3 Ireland had unilaterally renewed my contract by contacting me and our mutually agreeing a renewal.

This did not occur . There is no new contract .

I want simple confirmation from Three Ireland that no such contract exists . If 3 Ireland adopt a position that such a contract exists I demand that the recording of the call is attached as an MP3 or similar audio file and sent by email along with the Formal 3 Ireland Response to this Formal Complaint .

It is manifestly obvious that no investigation can occur that does not involve listening to such a recording .

Failure to receive MY copy of the recording that 3 Ireland allegedly relies upon , and within 10 days as per section 4.2 of your code or practice linked above , shall have the effect of immediately Voiding my Contract upon expiry of the 10 Day Formal complaint.

You are INSTRUCTED to cancel all Direct Debits in place with 3 Ireland before the end of the 10 day complaint period .

You are INSTRUCTED to confirm that 3 Ireland will not remove any money from my bank account at any stage after the 16th of October 2009 which is 10 working days hence.

I do not expect to have to finish any notice period longer than the 10 working day Complaint procedure set out in item 4.2 of your Code . This is because of the gross misfeasance and downright fraud committed by 3 Ireland and its staff.

I fully expect that you will release me from the contract on the 16th of October and that I will not have to observe a longer notice period than the 10 day complaint period because of your fraudulent tampering with my contract .

Yeers Etc

That should get rid of the c***s and Comreg have a copy of the email of course which saves time if 3 are somehow hanging in there after the 16th .

If that email address does NOT work..and it is in the code of practise linked above , you may complain to Comreg straight away because 3 broke their own procedure by not having a working email address and let Comreg deal with them for you thereafter.

Chase Comreg every single day . You should not be held to acontract that simply does not exist .

Sponge Bob · 02-10-2009 3:10pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

This is all pointless.

1. If you agree a verbal contract they MUST have a recording , you agreed nothing so there is no contract or recording proving a contract .

2. As there is no contract you are no longer a customer after the notice period.

Oh and one other thing. 3 sometimes ring up out of the blue ( but near the end of the contract ) offering a new modem or an upgraded modem.

If you then ring up afterwards they say you are locked into a NEW contract for a year (or two ) from the date when they rang you offering the modem.

EVEN if you say piss off I do not want the modem they often send it anyway and renew your contract for a year ..or two.

In the most tragic case I heard of they did not ring the customer at all or send a modem anyway . They just renewed the contract and babbled like maniacs on the phone every time they got a query .

Once they are in script lockdown like that it is impossible to deal with 3 by phone, all you get is babbling script monkeys talking ****e at high speed .

You email them like I said above , cc to Comreg , and DEMAND proof of this contract . They usually buckle within the 10 Day complaint period and email you back an apology and an I give up .

The only proof of contract that there can be is a form that you signed in a 3 SHOP or else a recording of you talking to an Indian person as 3 Ireland have no office based Customer Care or Sales staff west of Bombay .

Keep it simple and keep it in writing only with them .

No recording = no contract
No copy of recording in response to complaint = no contract
Any attempt to enforce a non existing contract = Fraud
Fraud = Criminal Matter
Comreg = Aiding and Abetting Fraud Most of the Time

kjenkinson26 · 05-10-2009 4:45am

I have been throught this. I sent 3 a letter stating that I had to stop using the mobile service as it was too poor and as my business at the time involved sending (some) photos on the internet it needed to be semi-reliable.
The reply I got was a letter from their debt collectors NCO looking for payment, which I unfortunately paid as I didn't want to go to court !!! I then got another bill from them......3 months out of my one year contract for more cash, so I reluctantley rang customer services (for extreme want of another word) and I was told that because I didn't cancel my contract correctly I had 'agreed' to keep paying monthly for internet access and it would take another month to cancel the contract....
To cut ths short I asked them for a copy of my contract..the one I had signed..and the lads in India pointed out where they were and didn't have them. I agreed to pay all the fines etc. if they sent me a copy of the contract and to date have still not heard anything from them (4 months and counting) but then again I may get something in the post tomorrow....lol

I would like a shout back from Spongebob as they [EMAIL="screw@d"]screw@d[/EMAIL] me on my mobile too..

Sponge Bob · 05-10-2009 8:03am

How did they screw you on your mobile ?

catyb20 · 05-10-2009 7:00pm

thanks to all for replies esp sponge bob - really great info.

i called them friday and after 15mins of arguing with india i was put through to 'thomas' in ireland!
He told me i agreed to another contract after 10 mins of arguing with him and stating i would be getting in touch with comreg, he asked would it help if he checked the voice recording - i told him yes - this was what i was looking for the past two days!

So he agreed to look for it and told me it would be next week before i heard back, i insisted he tell me an exact day - he told me tuesday.

Got off the phone happy enough - tool notes on everything said in the call.

An hour later i received a call back from thomas apologising for the renewal of contract, he said (as i told them multiple times) there seemed to be a very bad signal on my phone, i told him that thgat was because it was a 3 phone and he cancelled the contract there and then (apparently) i wont hold my breath, will wait and see if i get charged at the end of the month first!

Thanks again for eveyones input

PogMoThoin · 05-10-2009 7:34pm

Nice result, well done

Should be stickied for anyone else who gets conned into a new contract

Sponge Bob · 05-10-2009 7:41pm

catyb20 wrote: »

he asked would it help if he checked the voice recording - i told him yes - this was what i was looking for the past two days!

So he agreed to look for it and told me it would be next week before i heard back, i insisted he tell me an exact day - he told me tuesday.

Got off the phone happy enough - tool notes on everything said in the call.

Now you did what I told you not to do

But you confirmed that there MUST be a recording for there to be an enforceable contract and you seem to indicate that there is an escalations team in Ireland ...was Thomas Irish would you say , or did Thomas state he was in Ireland ???

An hour later i received a call back from thomas apologising for the renewal of contract, he said (as i told them multiple times) there seemed to be a very bad signal on my phone, i told him that thgat was because it was a 3 phone and he cancelled the contract there and then (apparently)

Well if there is no recording of you clearly agreeing to a contract extension then there is no contract which is the single most important thing.

I wont hold my breath, will wait and see if i get charged at the end of the month first!

Don't do anything of the sort .

If you do not have written confirmation of cancellation by tomorrow you need to do more or less what I told you to do .

email them and confirm the contract is cancelled and that the dd is cancelled and that you want all of that in writing .

you also have a complaint that MUST be investigated. Someone, not Thomas, fraudulently extended your contract and that is a serious matter . You got no explanation of how a discussion that effectively never took place got turned into an 18 or 24 month ( or whatever) contract extension .

If somebody tried to steal somewhere between €240 and €480 out of my pocket I would personally report them to the police .

You still need to get confirmation in writing that you and your bank account are in the clear and that there never was a contract and that three fully and unreservedly accept that and apologise for this scam they tried to pull . You have nothing to show Comreg right now because it is your word against theirs .

Please do carry out the email procedure and report back again .

catyb20 · 05-10-2009 8:31pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Now you did what I told you not to do

But you confirmed that there MUST be a recording for there to be an enforceable contract and you seem to indicate that there is an escalations team in Ireland ...was Thomas Irish would you say , or did Thomas state he was in Ireland ???

Well if there is no recording of you clearly agreeing to a contract extension then there is no contract which is the single most important thing.

Don't do anything of the sort .

If you do not have written confirmation of cancellation by tomorrow you need to do more or less what I told you to do .

email them and confirm the contract is cancelled and that the dd is cancelled and that you want all of that in writing .

you also have a complaint that MUST be investigated. Someone, not Thomas, fraudulently extended your contract and that is a serious matter . You got no explanation of how a discussion that effectively never took place got turned into an 18 or 24 month ( or whatever) contract extension .

If somebody tried to steal somewhere between €240 and €480 out of my pocket I would personally report them to the police .

You still need to get confirmation in writing that you and your bank account are in the clear and that there never was a contract and that three fully and unreservedly accept that and apologise for this scam they tried to pull . You have nothing to show Comreg right now because it is your word against theirs .

Please do carry out the email procedure and report back again .

thomas is irish and based in ireland.

I never thought on half of what you mentioned in there! I will make a follow up call tomorrow, ensure they have the right address etc, request a letter from them and if I don't receive anything b the end of the week I'll do exactly as you quote in the prvious post!

Again thank you so much for your help and I will keep everyone posted!

Though just wondering....are all calls not recorded?!

Sponge Bob · 05-10-2009 9:22pm

catyb20 wrote: »

Though just wondering....are all calls not recorded?!

Possibly but contract negotiations fall under the distance selling regulations.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/si/0207.html

Read section 14 on record keeping . In an instance where a sale allegedly occured entirely over the phone the only class of valid record that could prove it is a recording of the phone call .

No recording , no contract ! An email confirming what you want and what you have agreed will do instead of a letter .

Make sure the email states the DD is cancelled and that all monies due from you are paid up in full.

3 broadband contract

Comments